Kelden slowly motioned with his hands for the others to start skirting around the clearly (in his mind at least) Deranged dwarf. "those things were providing you food?" He asked clearly confused. He slowly tried to move along with the others making certain to keep himself between the dwarf and the wounded.
"Ye better back up now... Dot get too close or I'll.. I'll" He stops standing with a confused look on his face clearly at a loss for words. A glassy look comes over his eyes and he stands suddenly stiff as if listening to something.
Seeing the situation deteriorating Alesie again attempts to slide into the shadows, trying to find a better vantage point if the dwarf attempts to attack them.
"Easy there friend." Kelden began approaching him slowly. His hand strayed away from his swords hilt on purpose, no need to seem menacing, but his shield was still out as he slowly approached "No one here is going to hurt you." He added.
As Kelden approaches the dwarf tries to cast a spell!
Kelden jumps at the dwarf reaching for the dagger. Missing it as the dwarf jerks it away from him.
"That won't do!" Madmen and magic mix even less well than madmen and weapons. Carilain charges his warhammer as he brings it up off his shoulder, then swings the weapon at the demented dwarf.
Millorn jumps away from the hammer nimbly. He raises his hands suddenly two bolts of light fly out, one striking Carilain the other hitting Kelden.
Seeing the dwarf fire the missiles at her friends, Alesie draws back on her bow firing at him.
After seeing the dwarf finally snap and attack her friends, Kyra twirls forward towards the dwarf with her blade dancing in whirling arcs! Her suddenly glows with arcane magic and it sweeps in towards her enemy.
Kelden reeled for a moment as he was stuck by magical force that seemed to ignore his armor and shield, his breath blasted out of him and for a split second time seemed to stop as she pain wracked his body. "Infidel!" He growled out drawing his scimitar and slashing it across his body.
The women's strikes land true a the dwarf give a shout of alarm as Alesie's arrow comes out of nowhere.
Kelden follows up with another unsuccessful attack.
Carolain seems stunned for a moment...
Millorn cautiously moves a little farther back. As he prepares to cast a spell he's distracted by the fighting and looses it!
Ok ladies another round like that and we'll be done here ;)
Alesie Quickly fires again, hoping to dispose of the dwarf.
Kyra follows the dwarf mercilessly, he has proven to be her enemy... As he steps away and fumbles with his incantation, Kyra's fluid movements bring in her with a slash towards the mage's chest!
The magic missile hurt enough to send Carilain reeling, he tries to recover, but he remains off balance.
The women finish off the dwarf with little help from the men. Millorn goes down hard bleeding from his wounds. A curse upon you foul crusaders the last sound he utters.
Treasure
On the dwarf and among his campsite you find: Two potions and two scrolls.
Potions
potion of cure light wounds
potion of invisibility
Scrolls
scroll of shocking grasp
scroll of resist energy
Other Gear dagger, light crossbow ,10 bolts, cloak of resistance +1 of a ratty bedroll, a small pack filled with dried meat, preserved fruit, and some moldy cheese (6 days of rations), and a chipped 6-inch-tall marble statuette of a humanoid throwing a spear. The statuette is worth 75gp.
Millorn's spellbook is a ratty old and stained thing, singed on one corner and many of the pages near the end contain nothing but inkblots and smudges, however within the other pages you find the following spells:
acid splash, blur, color spray, detect magic, detect secret doors, fog cloud, ghost sound, grease, invisibility, levitate, mage armor, magic missile, read magic, resist energy, shocking grasp, and silent image.
This book is worth 160gp.
Coins 8pp, 7gp
"May Pharasma grant you some mercy." The cleric said pointedly as the dwarf fell. He resheathed his scimitar. "Are you alright Caralain?" He asked wishing he could rub the pain from his chest. He closed with the two elves Alesie and Caralain and channeled a bit more holy energy.
Kyra kneels to clean the blood from her blade on the dwarf's tattered clothing. "Poor fool must've gone mad for want of sun... I know I would..." She mutters.
She casts a minor cantrip to see about any magical items in the dwarf's possessions. She spots the cloak, two scrolls, and two potions. She gathers the items and takes them to Carilain... to hopefully identify. 'Perhaps he could teach me such a skill...'
"Carilain, could you identify these items to determine what properties they hold?"
Carilain lets the divine energy of Sarenrae wash over him, lifting the pain of his wounds and filling him with fresh vigor. Then he speaks the Draconic words and performs the accompanying gestures that give him the ability to view magic auras.
"Good, another healing potion."
Carilain holds up the next one. "Invisibility."
Then he looks at the scrolls. "Shocking grasp, the bread and butter of the magi. This last one, is protection from energy. Or the absence of energy. It can protect from cold as well."
"Let's not tarry, This day seems to keep getting worse and worse but it has to get better soon, The Dawnflower doesnt allow rain clouds to mask her glory for long." He began nodding torwards the direction they had been traveling. "that cloak might help break up your shape as you creep ahead miss Alesie shall we continue on as before With Caralain and Alesie our eyes and Sister Kyra our rearguard? He asked shooting one final glare at the fallen dwarf.
After climbing for 60 feet, the shaft levels out and heads northwest for approximately 2,500 feet (a 30-minute walk for your injured.)
The tunnel opens into a large cavern, about seventy feet across. Cylindrical rock formations along the walls arch up to make a dome like chamber, but the walls and floor are riddled with cracks. At the center of the cave, a stone tower that may once have reached the fifty-foot-high ceiling has collapsed onto its side.
Two people seem to be focusing on slowly and carefully digging through the tower's rubble, wary of causing accidental collapse. Now and then they call out, and a muffled voice in the rubble answers back.
"We should hurry and aide them." The young cleric whispered, although it was obvious he was willing to try and slip past if the others were more wary. At some point there luck had to turn, it just had to.
Hail there friends, Let us help you free your friend there." He would began approaching slowly to the fallen rubble trying to ascertain the best way to extricate the trapped being beneath it.
Kelden did his best to quietly slip by with the wounded every steps slight noise seemed to be magnified by his armor and his lack of skill moving in it.
"He was taken by madness no doubt." Carilain gives the dead dwarf a rueful look. "A pity. Still, his legacy lives on in this book."
Carilain nestles the dwarf's spellbook in his backpack, next to his own book.
With a smile for Alesie as she passes the elf takes up his place in line behind her.
At the large cavern Carilain pauses to let the others catch up. "I wonder who they are." Carilain is speaking in a whisper. "It'd be nice to meet some friendlies. But no one has been so far..."
Kyra pauses when the group stops when confronted by yet another obstacle... would this damnable cave never end?! "Let us verify their intentions first... I've no mind to be put to fight once again. These caves seem to have a foul effect on anyone long exposed to them." She waits, ready to act with a spell should the two figures rush to attack.
The two mongrels drop into defensive stances at your aprach but are not aggressive. One of the mongrels is a hunchbacked woman named Dyra, her face so warped by tumors that she's incapable of intelligible speech. The second is a man named Lann, and he does the talking for the two.
Lann is a tall, thin creature with a face that melds the features of an attractive elven man, a goat, and a lizardfolk. His oversized fingers end in dull, spadelike talons.
He greets you in a raspy voice, speaking in strangely accented but quite eloquent Common, "If your intentions are ill, we ask you to move on and leave us in peace. If they are good, then perhaps you can help. As you can see, misfortune has befallen us."
Carilain finds the appearance of the two to be a little disturbing. Still, these folk are offering no threat, and Carilain's credo is: Disrespect is earned, Respect is freely given.
Carilain stuffs the haft of the warhammer under his belt and moves up, ready to help move the rubble off the trapped person.
"We too are beset by misfortune. It seems that we should help you; then maybe you can give us directions, on how to reach the surface."
Alesie clasps on the dwarfs cloak, getting a feel for how it moves. Satisfied, she moves up the shaft.
Unclear of the intentions of these mongrelman Alesie hangs back while the group attempts to talk with them.
These guys are creepy looking. Could these be the mole-people Aravashnial was talking about earlier?
Kelden strode forward comforted in the fact that he didnt see miss Alesie anywhere. He had noticed that she was good at being un-noticed and that wasnt a bad thing at all. I am Kelden a cleric of Sarenrae the Dawnflower. Let us help free your friend." He said trusting in faith that these were indeed folk who needed aide. He looked at the rubble trying to figure out the best way to help.
Seeing her friends move up to help, Alesie comes out from the shadows and looks over the collapsed rubble. I hope their trust is well placed...
"That rock looks far to big for me to move. If someone wants to take the lead I can help." Alesie mentions, shrugging her shoulders.
He licked his lips and moved himself into position wedging his legs as best her could to get a stable surface from which to lift. When the others were in position and ready he counted down.. In three, two, one lift! He began exerting himself.
Carilain crouches down, grips the boulder and lifts with his legs.
Seeing these folks don't appear to mean them harm, Kyra sheathes her blade and attempts to aid the others in clearing this boulder from the molemen's trapped friend. "What happened here?" she asks as she puts her shoulder to the rock, unfortunately her divided attention causes her footing to slip.
Struggling with the stone, the two Mongrel men lend their aid as well but even with their help the stone seems immovable.
They relate a tale of terrible tremors their tower and a few of the tunnels collapsed, trapping one of them under it.
He sighed and took a deep breath motioning the others to stop for a moment. He glanced at the perilous rubble wondering if there wasnt a better way to handle this. "I just don't know if we have the strength to lift it, and digging seems to be dangerous. Lets find some larger peices of rubble or the like Perhaps we can brace the larger mess up and dig throught the smaller ones, or should we give it one more try lifting?" He asked doing his best to sound positive and upbeat. Morale was important he knew, especially in situations that invovled life or death.
Carilain takes a breather. The rock seems very determined to stay where it sits. As he rests the elf looks around for something that might serve as a lever. Carilain does not know much about mining or engineering, but he is aware of the power of leverage.
Should give it one more go at least before we try the far riskier approach.
Alesie sets up by the rock again, contorting her lithe frame to get a better angle on the rock and pushes with all her might.
Kelden was willing to try to move some of the rubble yet when lady alesie move and started to lift again he moved to aid putting all his strenght into it.
Carilain joins in trying to push the rock away.
With the help of the Mongrel Men and Kyra your second attempt to lift the heavy rock succeeds.
The three embrace and take a moment to check Crel for injuries. Apart from hunger and thirst their friend is fine.
After having some time Lann approaches you. Thanking you all for your kind assistance. "It is a rare thing to meet strangers down here, and rarer still for them to give aid. Please come with us to Neathholm. There Chief Sull can reward you for your service..." He seems to finally notice the state of your attire and the injured you've been escorting. "Perhaps we can help you tend to your wounded there as well."
He looks out to the many tunnels leading beyond this cavern. He gestures at one that collapsed. "That would have been the shortest route to the surface but there are other ways we know of."
"We have been through some trials so far indeed friends, we would gladly follow you and be grateful for you assistance. He said with a smile. "May i ask how long you have lived beneath the city like this?" The young cleric asked honestly curious as to the natures of those they just helped.
"Any known route to the surface is more then we know right now. Plus if you have the means to help our friends here then I consider you to be great company." Alesie adds.
These guys don't seem to bad.
After winding roughly southwest for 1,875 feet (25 minutes), the tunnel reaches a significant obstacle. Ahead, a wide chasm splits the tunnel floor. The rock dust around the chamber and the groans as the tunnel walls settle indicate that the tunnels split no more than a few days ago.
Crel, Dyra and Lann express dismay when they see the chasm-there's a way onward on the far side of the chasm to the southeast, but they also have begun to worry that the tremors may have destroyed their home.
The chasm is 10 feet across, 70 feet wide, and 30 feet deep. The tunnel continues on from the chasm's opposite side about 40 feet east of the entrance.
Alesie easily clears the chasm before realizing that it may be harder for the rest of the group to bound across.
Sigh. I guess this could be difficult to get everyone across.
Alesie starts scrounging around in her pack, looking for the rope she had packed.
"Don't suppose that jump will be easy for everyone. Wouldn't want to risk Aravashnial or Anevia trying to do something dangerous. Let's get to the surface safely."
Alesie hops back across to the other side and looks for a place to secure her rope.
"Probably best to just scale down and back up the other side I'm thinking. Better safe then dead."
Kyra, glad that she could finally be of aid, smiles as they were able to remove the mongrelmen's pinned friend. She listens intently as Kelden discusses with their newly acquired friends. "I am glad to hear of a city down here... we have not had much of a friendly welcome beneath the earth." She smiles at the mongrelmen.
When they reach the chasm she watches Alesie easily clear the jump. She then remembers Terendelev's scales. "Brother Kelden, perhaps you could use your scale to assist some in reaching the other end of the chasm? Your scale allows you to hover, if I remember correctly?"
She winks, takes a few steps back, and with a running start she easily clears the chasm with a twirling leap. "Come now, let us waste no more time my new friends. I am eager to find a safe place to recover and perhaps find some actual food."